Communicating about Sexual Violence Incidents

× Report the Abuse ceased operations as an NGO on 20 August 2017. The webpage and its contents are no longer updated. Thank you for your support, and we encourage all visitors to keep addressing sexual violence against humanitarian aid workers.

There are many ways that humanitarian organisations can work to address sexual violence against its staff. Communicating openly and being transparent about the problem is a vital step towards more trusted humanitarian structures.

In the wake of Terrain Hotel in July 2016, many humanitarian organisations struggled with the concept of speaking openly to condemn acts of sexual violence against humanitarian aid workers. This struggle extends to communicating internally about staff-on-staff incidents of sexual violence.

In response to this display of vulnerability, Report the Abuse created a Guidance Note to assist humanitarian organisations on how they can reconsider communications on the issue of sexual violence against humanitarian aid workers. It is the first step in a journey to more open conversations about this difficult but important problem.